Children of Light - Of fluff and fuzz
by ExoRipper
Summary: Everyone needs a break once in a while, and God knows Apollo and Hermes deserve it. These will be a collection of 'short' drabbles I write to get into the flow before working on the main story. They don't connect to it in any way, besides the usual shenanigans of the two brothers. Rated M cause there's still gore and strong language. At the end of the day, Harran is still Harran.
1. Chapter 1: A bar of Granola Pt1

The harsh mid-day sun had been pounding his sweaty skin for some time now, and Apollo began wondering if this supply run was actually that good of an idea. Besides a couple rolls of duct tape and a handful of batteries that were probably drained anyways, his backpack was rattling with mostly empty space. Hermes was one step ahead of him, swinging the door of the small house they were searching wide open, allowing the blinding light to flood it. Apollo followed shortly, shading his eyes with his right hand as he tried to map out any eventual threats. Hermes on the other hand didn't seem to care. He rushed out in the street like there was no tomorrow, his head spinning around in search for their next house to sack.

"Look at that one bro," Hermes yelled out a bit too loud for Apollo's liking. His sight trailed along the empty street that Hermes pointed out, ever so enthusiastic. A few rundown houses, if they could be called that, missing doors and broken windows adorning each and every one of them. As his sight reached the end of the street though, Apollo realized what Hermes was pointing at: a one-room shop at the ground floor of a two-story house. An actual house, with intact doors and windows, and sturdy walls. And judging by the closed metal shutters picking up rust, Apollo thought they actually had a chance to find a treasure trove.

"Sure, let's go check it out," Apollo replied after a few moments, as his eyes were growing used to the blinding light.

They started making their way down the street, calmly strutting down it's length as they made small talk.

"What do you think we'll find?" Hermes asked, his right hand trailing through his hair and down the back of his neck. Thoughts of a fresh cup of coffee, and maybe even a few cans of beans, started rushing through his mind and ravaging his growling stomach.

"A whole bunch of nothing, most likely..." Apollo responded. His lack of enthusiasm really bothered his brother. He on the other hand couldn't care less. After all, your hopes can't be crushed if you have none.

"Dude, don't jinx it! We'll find so many goodies we'll need to make five trips back to the tower!"

"Oh, bro..." Apollo let out a mumble. A quiet growl caught his attention, and he quickly reached for his hatchet as he turned around. At the sight of a poor zombie impaled on a heap of metal spikes though, he relaxed. His hand slowly let go of the hatchet's handle as he turned around to face his brother once again.

By the time they reached the front of the shop, Hermes was preaching about a cold beer as if it was his religion. He knew that the bitter-sweet sensation of a cold Heineken running down his throat was a pipe dream at best at this point, but he wanted to believe. After all, dreams were for free.

Hermes was brought back to Harran from beer-dream land when Apollo tried his luck with lifting the shutter. It cried out loud, with rusty metallic squeaks.

"Locked from the inside," Apollo deduced as he straightened his back. Hermes was not so convinced. He pushed his brother aside, a prideful grin growing on his lips.

"Let a real pro handle it, ma'am." He pushed his fingers beneath the shutter, and pulled, and pushed, and then pulled again. Damn thing wouldn't budge.

'Come on, Hermes. Put your back into it,' he thought, grabbing the stubborn shutter for a final try. He arched his back and pulled upwards with all his might. His sweaty palm slipped, and in that particular moment, he began considering the fact that Apollo might be right. By the time he fell back on his ass, he was sure of it.

"A real pro," Apollo teased as he backed up from the building, looking for another way in. Still down on the ground, Hermes' face was turning sulky.

"Good news, I found a way in," Apollo said as he turned around. "Bad news, it's a 7 feet jump to the balcony from the neighboring roof. You just stay here," he continued after he took a few steps. "I'll make the jump and open the shutter from the inside.

"Sounds good to me," Hermes replied as he finally got up on his feet. He began dusting his jeans, all the while watching Apollo's awkward attempt at scaling a rickety house.

Apollo jumped up a few times, grabbing the ledge of the roof and slipping back down. Seeing how this got him nowhere, he backed away a few steps. Wall running wasn't down his alley, like 90% of free running, but he had to try it sooner or later. He took off towards the wall, jumping in the air as he reached it. His right foot made contact, and to is surprise, his momentum actually enabled him to push himself up the wall. When his left foot met the wall however, he found himself going down again. He stretched his arms forward and slammed into the edge of the roof with his chest, trying for dear life to latch on. When he saw he wasn't slipping back down the wall, he pushed himself up with his hands until he could snuggle a foot beneath himself as well. And just like that, he'd made it. Easy peasy. Now up on the roof, he turned his head to face Hermes, who seemed a bit too amused at his failed attempts.

"You could've helped, you know?"

"You didn't ask," Hermes replied as he turned around, walking towards the house, hoping to hide in the shadow. The sun was finally getting on his nerves, and he decided he'd have none of it.

"Whatever," Apollo mumbled, waving a hand towards his brother and his lazy ass. He looked at the balcony, feeling a slither of doubt creeping into his stubborn head. He pushed it aside and took a few steps back, then charged for the roof's edge with all his might. Five steps later, he soared through the air. Destination: balcony.


	2. Chapter 2: A bar of Granola Pt 2

His chest slammed hard against the metal railing.

'Ouch.'

Air evacuated his lungs, and he struggled to get a grip on something. His fingers searched frantically, hoping to curl around anything sturdy. They found a potted plant, and once he'd gotten the memo, he tried to pull himself up. The plant slid on the floor, and along with it, he slid further down the balcony.

"You okay, Apollo?" Hermes spoke up from below.

"Ye...yeah…" He struggled a line.

"You sure?"

"Just...gimme...a sec…"

He let go of the plant and opted to find something sturdier. His left hand met one of the bars of the railing, and he decided that will do. He gripped it tightly and started pulling himself up, until he could slip his other hand between the bars. And hopefully a foot as well. His right leg met the edge of the balcony and he pushed himself up and over the railing in one fell swoop.

'A bit too much force there,' he thought as he flipped over the railing and face first onto a chair that nearly broke. After running a superficial damage control, he got up and approached the door.

'Okay. Shoulders up, bend your right knee forward, push your left leg behind…' He got into position and tackled the door. It didn't even flinch as he was thrown back. He fell down onto his ass, with his back against the railing.

"Everything's alright?" Hermes asked again.

"I tried to tackle the door," Apollo responded as he got up.

"Did you pull your shoulders up?"

"Yeah."

"Did you bend your right knee forward?"

"Yeah."

"Left leg pushed behind?"

"Yeah, I did it all good. The door is just sturdy," Apollo answered his pestering brother before he charged the door again. Same result.

"Have you tried the handle yet?" Hermes asked sarcastically.

Apollo got up and approached the door, expecting disappointment as his fingers curled around it's handle. To his surprise, he was met with a faint pop. The handle turned in his hand and the door opened wide, and he considered a facepalm would've been appropriate in that moment.

"I swear," Hermes spoke from below the balcony as he heard the rusty squeals of the hinges, "how you got in med school is beyond me."

"Shut your trap!" Apollo replied as he entered the room, his stubby hatchet ready in his right hand.

He slowly and carefully pushed the door open, just enough so he could peek inside. His head pierced the murky darkness and his eyes went blind for a couple of moments as they tried to adjust. No growls though. No shuffling feet or labored breath either, so he decided it was clear. Or clear enough, anyway.

He stepped inside a small, cramped room, filled to the brim with junk and settled dusk. A bad sign anywhere else, but a good one in Harran, as it meant no one had entered that room in quite a long time.

He searched the room superficially and found a radio, a couple of cellphones and a rusty machete in dire need of sharpening. Lots of other useful junk could probably be found there, but he decided that would have to wait. He threw the radio and cell phones in his backpack, sure that Alphie or Rahim would be thankful for some spare parts, and grabbed the machete off the floor.

"Yo, bro!" He yelled at Hermes as he got out on the balcony, "I have something you might like."

"What?" Hermes asked, before the rusty machete landed on the ground next to him.

"Okay dude, I love it, but don't throw sharp shit at me without a head's up!"

Apollo ignored him and turned around. He still had an entire house to search.

* * *

The rooms of the upper level had all been clear. Apollo knocked on every door before he opened them, waiting for any response from inside. It was a slower process than simply barging in, but it was much safer, and in his book that was an acceptable tradeoff.

The room he entered first was a bedroom. The door to his left led to a kitchen, then a corridor led to a bathroom, and what he figured would be a stairway behind a hatch door at the end of the corridor. He tried to open it, but it came up in it's entirety, so he threw it aside. A lot of nothing greeted him.

He whistled in the dark below. Waited a few seconds for a response. None came.

'Looks safe enough,' he determined before he jumped down.

A broken ladder got caught between his feet as he landed. He stumbled around through the dark and fell on his face.

"Everything cool?" Hermes asked as he heard the thud.

"Yeah," Apollo answered as he got up. He tried to locate the shutter. His eyes adjusted after a few moments, and he noticed a few narrow strips of light cutting their way through the darkness. He approached the shutter and turned his flashlight on. Two sturdy metal locks kept it in place, secured from anyone that would try to steal from the shop.

'I guess it's not stealing if they're dead,' Apollo thought to himself as he crouched down and tried his luck at breaking the locks. The butt of the hatchet nipped at them a couple times, but they were stubborn.

He got up and looked around the room. No way in hell would he risk the hatchet's edge, thing was a pain in the ass to sharpen. Something else had to suffice.

The flashlight bit at the darkness. Tore it up wherever it's beam went, as Apollo swivelled on his heels. A mangled body popped into view as the light hit one of the corners.

Apollo covered his mouth as he looked on. Brains were splattered on the wall behind it, a radiating flower of dried up blood added to the intricate pattern on the wallpaper. The barrel of a pistol rested in it's mouth, caught between jaws locked together in rigor mortis.

He took a few uneasy steps towards it. Crouched down and reached for the gun. Cold, shrivelled fingers held onto it tightly, and came away along with it's handle as Apollo jerked it free. He pried them open one by one with a wince, and they fell to the floor.

'Poor fool,' he thought as he examined the body further. Decay hasn't been forgiving with it, and Apollo had a hard time figuring out why he opted out. 'A bite maybe,' he concluded, 'and enough compassion to not want to hurt anyone after his passing…'

A quick search of it's pockets returned a bottle of empty antizin plucked into an injector. It's right foot twisted at an awkward angle as Apollo got to his jeans, and the picture of what happened in this room unfolded itself before his eyes.

He climbed down here in search of supplies. The ladder broke beneath him, along with his leg. Bitten, and with no antizin left after god knew how much time he'd spent down here, he decided to end it all on his own terms.

Apollo got up and continued the search. He found a door that lead to the back of the shop.

'Locked, of course…' he thought as he kneeled in front of it. His right hand dove in his back pocket, came back out with a twisted piece of metal, and he shoved it in the keyhole.

A twist to the right yielded a click, and Apollo tried the handle. It spun in his hand and broke the makeshift lock pick, but it didn't budge.

'You're really gonna do this to me?' he thought as he pulled out another lockpick. It shared the fate of the first after a couple of tries, and Apollo could feel his frustration grow.

"Dude, you gonna open this shutter anytime soon?" Hermes yelled.

"Working on it, have some patience!" He replied as he pulled out one more lockpick. "Third time's a charm, right?" He whispered under his breath.

The lock clicked, and Apollo tried his luck with the handle. It turned and released the door, made him sigh with relief.

He sprung to his feet and rushed in the room. A gurgle greeted him and had him jump back in surprise as he yelped. His back collided with the door, and it closed behind him.

'Shit,' his mind blabbered as he swerved around a pair of hungry hands. 'Shitshitshit…' he continued as he ran around the room.

The biter faded in and out of existence as Apollo squirmed around, swallowed up by the darkness as the beam of light danced through the room.

'Come on, Apollo. Gather yourself,' he thought. 'It's just a shitty biter…'

His pulse lowered as if his heart could hear his pleas. A swerve of his body had him turned around, facing a big table.

'It'll do.'

He ran around it and allowed the beam of light to settle. From up ahead, a pair of hands came into view. Bloody and torn, flesh pulled back to expose bare finger bones, they turned though the dark and settled in his general direction.

"Come get me," Apollo teased, his right hand comfortably tight around the hatchet's handle.

The biter snarled, a silent gurgle that was all too familiar. Meal detected, Apollo believed it meant. Or something along those lines anyways. It shook on it's feet, took a couple unsteady steps towards it's target, and made Apollo wonder how they were a threat to anyone.

Numbers.

That was the answer, and it was something the biter lacked at the moment. It approached the table and bumped into it, hands outstretched and too dumb to realize it could go around the damn thing.

Apollo reached forwards and grabbed a handful of skin. The scalp of the biter shifted on it's skull, oozed pus and thickened blood between Apollo's fingers. He snapped his arm back and took the biter's head along for the ride. It collided with the table, made the creature growl with anger. The other hand freed the hatchet from it's belt loop and brought it down in front of him. It bit though decayed flesh and weakened bone, edge driven deep enough to shatter it's brains.

The stench hit Apollo hard. He pulled himself back, gasped for fresh air but found stale instead. Dusty and moldy and burning his dry nostrils.

With the biter disposed of, he searched the room in peace. For a set of keys hopefully, or something blunt to shatter that damn lock. He found the latter in a drawer, in the shape of a crowbar.

Hermes heard him approach the shutter and spoke up.

"You gonna open that thing today?" He asked, annoyed by all the waiting.

"One sec," Apollo answered.

He shoved the crowbar in-between the lock's horns and pulled them apart. They broke easily, and he got to lifting the shutter up.

"Some...help...maybe…" He struggled as the rusty hinges cried out.

Hermes complied, and together they lifted it all the way up. Daylight invaded the dusty shop and blinded Apollo in the process, so he covered his eyes with his hands.

"Let's find some loot," Hermes said as he pushed past his brother.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey y'all, Exo here with a quick announcement: I'm not dead yet, yay :D I'm slowly adjusting to life abroad, and I'm slooooowly making pockets of free time in my schedule for writing and reading. It'll take a while before I resume my sporadic and unpredictable posting schedule, but I'm still working on all my stuff so it will happen eventually. I'll resume Children of Light when I'll have a few buffer chapters as well, I've ignored it for long enough :/

So welcome back I guess...


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